Maama’s home cooking arrives in Northamptonshire with opening of new restaurant

Delicious Afro-Caribbean food including goat, guinea fowl and fried yam are on the menu at a new restaurant in Corby.

Ghanaian chef Nana Konadu, whose own mother taught her to cook, will serve up her favourite home-cooking at Maamalicious in Corporation Street, next to the British Heart Foundation shop.

Ghanaian chef Nana Konadu

She has lived in Corby for five years and has three young daughters at school in the town.

She said: “I’ve always wanted to do this. Cooking is my passion.

“It’s been about waiting for the right time and the right venue and I think that’s here and now.”

Nana, who lives on the Danesholme estate, grew up in Ghana, West Africa. The food there is almost identical to Afro-Caribbean food because of the number of Ghanaians who went to Jamaica as part of the slave trade.

Nana Konadu, whose own mother taught her to cook

On the menu at the new restaurant are dishes including Red Red - which is black-eyed bean stew with deep-fried plantain; fried yam with a type of fish called tilapia; peanut soup known as Nkatsenkwan and a full or half guinea fowl.

Nana moved over from Ghana to the UK in 2007 and lived in London and Birmingham before moving to Northamptonshire five years ago. She has had jobs in Asda and at Wincanton but has always aimed to cook for a living.

She added: “My mum and dad are great cooks and my husband cooks too so it’s definitely in the family. My mum is still in Ghana but I hope she’s proud.

“Corby town centre can sometimes be a bit quiet at night so we’re hoping to change that.”

The restaurant is open from 9.30am until 10pm on weekdays. It opens until midnight on Fridays, 1am on Saturdays and 10pm on Sundays. Nana also hopes to get an alcohol licence.